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Outrage of the day: Scott Pilgrim limps to finish fifth at box office

Scott Pilgrim vs. The Expendables

That must hurt worse than exploding into a handful of coins: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World opened to a paltry $10.5 million this weekend, behind The Expendables, Eat Pray Love, The Other Guys(???) and Inception. With a gross that anemic, it’s difficult to see the Toronto-based geekfest making back its $60 million budget at the box office. If a fun, video game-besotted romp around some of Toronto’s greatest landmarks can’t bring the crowds to a theatre—especially after the whole Chloe thing—it’s possible Toronto is going to have to go back to playing, oh, every other vaguely post-industrial city in North America.

So what have we learned from this whole affair?

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The Goods

Home Guide

July 26, 2010 | 2:28 pm

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Ask the expert: architect Drew Mandel on brilliant homes and renos

Architect Drew Mandel made his name with his own brave little home: a 13-foot-wide light box of glass, concrete and mahogany squeezed between two Victorians in Summerhill. This year, his Ravine House—with towering blocks of windows—had a silver screen debut in Atom Egoyan’s Chloe.

(Image: Vanessa Heins)

What skills should every architect have?
Good architects listen to the client. They understand the problems they’re dealing with, they prioritize, and they know the site. A great architect figures out a way to distill the project’s essence, and what’s important to the client, through all the noise and distraction of construction.

Is Toronto architecture too reserved?
I think Toronto residences could benefit from more self-expression. If people didn’t value resale so much, we might have more interesting architecture. But I caution against wild self-indulgence. Pick just one element in a project and reinvent it. You could put a large piece
of veined marble vertically on a wall as cladding, which turns it into a high-impact piece of art.

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The Hype

Cinemania

June 30, 2010 | 1:35 pm

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Free screenings today and tomorrow at the newly reno’d Carlton Cinemas

Indie cinephiles can line up at the Carlton Cinema again, enjoying a $1.5 million renovation and free screenings to boot. The charming film house shut its doors last December to the bitter disappointment of those who frequented the theatre for off-beat and critically acclaimed movies and a retro experience. Atom Egoyan, who tried to save the Carlton last year, will be at the theatre tonight to answer questions after the free 6:20 p.m. screening of his Toronto-filmed Chloe, a fitting start to the 29-year-old landmark’s next chapter. Today and tomorrow, Carlton Cinema will be showing free screenings of various films, including The Blind Side, Departures, Julie and Julia, The Class, The Cove, Crazy Heart, Up in the Air, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Away From Her and How to Train Your Dragon. Full schedule available at rainbowcinemas.ca.

• Carlton cinema returns-with even fewer seats [Toronto Star]
• Inside the new (and improved) Carlton Cinema [Blog TO]

The Hype

Cinemania

June 4, 2010 | 10:30 am

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The top-secret formula for decoding Toronto Star movie reviews, revealed

Everyone’s a critic, right? Well, at the Toronto Star, even its film critics don’t seem to be too, well, critical these days. Every other week, there’s a three- or four-star (out of four) review popping up. And unless it’s been an especially good year for movies (editor’s note: it has not), then there’s only one answer to why the reviews are so darn positive: math.

Through some crack investigative work—and one very-soon-to-be-sorry radio room intern—The Hype has managed to get a hold of the entertainment department’s top-secret “ridiculously absurd virtues for entertainment” equation, or RAVE for short. This classified formula reveals just how critics manage to award stellar reviews to such universally acknowledged dreck as Alice in Wonderland (3 1/2 stars, but 53 per cent on metacritic.com), the remake of Death at a Funeral (three stars, but 51 per cent on metacritic) and, shudder, The Twilight Saga: New Moon (three stars, but a pitiful 44 per cent on metacritic).

Herewith, the math behind a Toronto Star movie review.

The formula breakdown, after the jump.

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The Hype

Cinemania

March 26, 2010 | 4:55 pm

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Chloe: the drinking game

Viewers expecting one of Atom Egoyan’s signature what-exactly-is-going-on-here? art-house flicks may be slightly disappointed with his latest offering, Chloe. But anyone who loves a good old-fashioned thriller—it’s Fatal Attraction meets Hand That Rocks the Cradle—is in for a treat. What Chloe is not: subtle. What it is: sophisticated porn, complete with amazingly hot actors, gorgeous clothing and girl-on-girl sex scene. Even the house felt slightly centrefold-esque. And what goes better with porn than a little hooch? Not that we’re endorsing the taking of booze into a movie theatre, but let’s just say this game works a lot better with vodka than it does with Dr. Pepper. Below, our 100 per cent original Chloe drinking game.

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The Hype

Cinemania

March 26, 2010 | 10:56 am

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Critics on Chloe: term “Toronto gynecologist” is “somewhat amusing”

Amanda Seyfried and Julianne Moore in Chloe (Image: E1 Entertainment)

It’s opening day for Atom Egoyan’s saucy Toronto-based drama, Chloe, which means the reviews are out. Surprise, surprise—the Canadian critics gave it top marks (is there a three-star minimum for homegrown films?). But reaction down south hasn’t been so favourable; the New York Times, in particular, had choice words: “There are grown-up moviegoers who will appreciate Chloe… There are also teenage boys who get a hold of Playboy for the articles.”

Ouch. But, at least the Times could get past the Toronto setting, a problem for many American critics. From the New York Observer:

Julianne Moore stars as Catherine, a Toronto gynecologist (why this is a somewhat amusing turn of phrase, I cannot explain).
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The Hype

Cinemania

March 25, 2010 | 4:34 pm

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Find the Toronto icons in the Scott Pilgrim trailer

Although it admittedly seems a bit odd to write a post directing one’s attention to what is essentially a commercial, we think it’s worth noting that the trailer for the Toronto-rific feature Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was released today. The movie, based on Brian Lee O’Malley’s series of Toronto-centred comic books, was filmed here last year and stars Michael Cera, Brampton’s golden boy. Cera plays Scott, who’s on a mission to defeat his dream girl’s seven evil ex-boyfriends. But, as the trailer shows, the film also stars some other Toronto icons: the TTC, Sneaky Dee’s, Honest Ed’s and Lee’s Palace.

First Chloe and now this. If we aren’t careful, Toronto is going to refuse to play any parts other than itself—which is a shame, because it makes a beautiful Detroit.

• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World teaser trailer [YouTube]

The Hype

Cinemania

March 22, 2010 | 11:10 am

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Atom Egoyan set Chloe here because “Toronto is a prostitute”

Amanda Seyfried at the Chloe premiere during TIFF (Image: Karon Liu)

For Torontonians, watching Hollywood stars Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried and Liam Neeson romp around their city in Chloe will be part—a large part—of the fun. The original screenplay was set in San Francisco, but director Atom Egoyan was keen on filming and setting the movie in Toronto. Chloe, the story of a wife who hires a prostitute to test her husband’s faithfulness, opens on Friday.

“At the level of metaphor, it’s interesting because Toronto is a prostitute. As a city, very often it pretends to be New York or Chicago or San Francisco,” Egoyan told the L.A. Times. “So it’s interesting that since this is a film about that, in fact the city becomes a character.”

Don’t take it personally, Toronto—we still think you’re a classy gal. Shall we leave our ticket money here on the nightstand?

• Chloe creates an odd triangle on and off-screen [Los Angeles Times]

The Hype

March 20, 2010 | 10:00 am

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On The Hype this week: Atom Egoyan on Chloe, AGO lay offs, Broken Social Scene movie

For your weekend reading pleasure, here are the highlights from The Hype this week:

• A bad week for the Canadian film industry as two major institutions close

• AGO to lay off 37 after receiving $7.5 million from government

• Q&A: Atom Egoyan on the making of Chloe

• Toronto garbage strike at centre of Broken Social Scene movie

• Kelly Cutrone to Jaclife: call me

• Kristen Stewart a no-show at Toronto premiere of The Runaways

• Galleries reap rewards of Ossington restaurant restrictions

• Bruce LaBruce interviews Karl Lagerfeld

• Greener pastures: Brody Jenner’s next Canadian conquest

• DJ Jazzy Jeff signs Toronto artist

• Don McKellar named Canada’s George Clooney

The Hype

From the Print Edition

March 16, 2010 | 1:59 pm

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Q&A: Atom Egoyan on the making of Chloe

(Image: Dominique Charriau)

Atom Egoyan’s latest film, Chloe, turns Toronto into a dark and sexy city. A suspicious wife (Julianne Moore), a cad of a husband (Liam Neeson) and a sultry call girl (Amanda Seyfried) form the psychologically complex triangle at the centre of Egoyan’s latest film. Stacked with stars and moody shots of Toronto, it’s requisite viewing for the city’s cinephiles. Here, the director talks about the making of his racy new thriller.

Critics have called Chloe a love letter to Toronto. Why was it important to set the movie here?
The script was originally set in San Francisco, but I wanted to make Chloe as personal as possible, so I set it in a place I know really well. The city brands the film.

The house in the film is visually striking, almost like a character itself. Where is it?
Funny you should ask. I first saw it in Toronto Life and then tracked it down. It’s near St. Clair and Bathurst. It’s a very modern, signature Toronto style, with all the wood and glass. Thematically, I liked that the huge windows made it transparent.

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Toronto International Film Festival 2009

September 18, 2009 | 10:43 am

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Rickshaws and Lisa Ray at Cooking with Stella premiere

Don McKellar and Lisa Ray arrive at the gala for Cooking with Stella (Photos by Karon Liu)

Yesterday’s Cooking with Stella red carpet was much like the Chloe premiere: most of the fans lining up were actually waiting for the next premiere (in this case, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits starring Natalie Portman and Lisa Kudrow). Still, people’s celeb hunger was insatiable, and most lingerers wanted a glimpse of those on the red carpet, even though they had no idea who they were—or, as a heavily accented older woman cruelly put it, even though they were “not populars.”

Director Dilip Metha arrived first, not in the black Cadillacs to which we’ve grown accustomed, but in a rickshaw decorated with streamers. Next up was star Lisa Ray, in a sexy purple number, who arrived on rickshaw with co-star Don McKellar.

: Don McKellar and Lisa ray arrive at the gala for Cooking with Stella

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

September 17, 2009 | 3:46 pm

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RED CARPET INTERVIEW: We chat up Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried and Atom Egoyan at the Chloe premiere

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

September 14, 2009 | 3:12 pm

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PHOTO GALLERY: Chloe premiere with Amanda Seyfried, Julianne Moore, Atom Egoyan and Jason Reitman

Amanda Seyfried at the premiere of Chloe. (Photo by Karon Liu) Full disclosure: we arrived at Roy Thomson Hall yesterday around 4 p.m. to secure a spot behind the barricades for the Precious premiere that night and completely forgot about the gala for Atom Egoyan’s Chloe earlier in the evening.

However, things worked out for the best as we had the best view to catch a glimpse of stars Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried (Liam Neeson pulled out of TIFF after the death of his wife) as well as Egoyan and Jason Reitman (his dad Ivan also made an appearance). Mayor David Miller, apparently suffering from a George Hamilton-level faux tan, walked to the red carpet instead of arriving in a car, but his thunder was quickly stolen when Seyfried arrived seconds later.

We’d like to thank Oprah for this bountiful gift.

Toronto International Film Festival 2009

September 13, 2009 | 8:30 am

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Today at TIFF: September 13, 2009

Our daily roundup of the most buzz-worthy opening galas, parties and screenings.

• Woodstock free public screening, Yonge–Dundas Square, noon
• My Heart Goes Hadippa (Dil Bole Hadippa) premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 1:30 p.m.
• Agora premire, Roy Thomson Hall, 1:30 p.m.
• Whip It spotlight featuring the Toronto Roller Derby League and stars of the film, Yonge-Dundas Square, 5:30 p.m.
• Chloe premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 6:30 p.m.
• Untouchable Girls showcase featuring a free show by the Topp Twinns, New Zealand’s “top yodelling comedy duo,” Yonge–Dundas Square, 9 p.m.
• Capitalism: A Love Story premiere, Visa Screening Room, 9 p.m.
• Whip It premiere, Ryerson Theatre, 9 p.m.
• Precious world premiere, Roy Thomson Hall, 9:30 p.m.
• Norman Jewison’s annual barbecue for the Canadian Film Centre, Canadian Film Centre
• Edward Rogers’s gala fundraiser for One X One, Roger’s Forest Hill home
• Whip It party (guests include Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page), Tattoo Rock Parlour
• Cairo Time premiere party (guests include Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig), Spice Route
• Good Hair premiere party (guests include Chris Rock), One King West

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